ME651 Assignment (Potential Flow)

Submission date: 23rd March, 2015, 5:30 p.m. Please submit only hardcopies at my
mailbox in the ME department office. Late submissions will be penalized by at least
25%.
1. (5 points) Starting from the momentum equation for u, with a conservative body
force :
u 1
1
+ (|u|2 ) + u = p
t
2

(1)

, where = u, derive the following two forms of the Bernoulli equation:

(a) Velocity is steady, and vorticity is zero
(b) Velocity is unsteady, but vorticity is zero, so that we can write u = , where
is the velocity potential function.
In each case, give reasons for why (or why not) the Bernoulli equation can be
applied only along a streamline.
2. (5 points) For a cylinder in uniform flow U , with radius R, and a superimposed
circulation of strength , assuming irrotational compressible flow:
(a) Explicitly integrate the pressure on the surface of the cylinder, and verify the
Kutta-Zhukovsky lift theorem
(b) What is the location for the stagnation point(s) on the cylinder surface, for
all possible values of ?
3. (5 points) To capture flow due to a point vortex near a wall, we can use the method
i
ln(z d) +
of images. Say we have a complex velocity potential F (z) = 2
i
2 ln(z + d), where z = x + iy, is circulation and d is a real number.
(a) Show that u = 0 at x = 0.
(b) Find the pressure distribution p(y) along the vertical wall at x = 0.
(c) What is the velocity at the center of the second vortex at x = d, y = 0 ?

4. (5 points) The flow around an ellipse semi-major axis A = a + c2 /a and semi-minor

axis B = ac2 /a is given by the following complex velocity potential in the mapped
plane:


a2
(2)
F() = U exp(i) +
exp(i)
along with the mapping z = g() = + c2 / from the mapped to physical plane.
This potential represents a uniform flow with velocity U impinging at an angle to
the ellipse. Based on the discussion in class, find the moment acting on the ellipse,
as a function of , , U , A and B.
5. (5 points) Continuing from the above problem, now suppose that we add a point
vortex in the mapped plane, so that:


a2
i
F() = U exp(i) +

ln
(3)
exp(i)
2
(a) What are the locations of the stagnation point on the ellipse in physical plane
? You may assume that |/(4U a)| < 1.
(b) At what value of is the Kutta condition satisfied ? Explain clearly how you
arrive at this answer, listing all the assumptions.